The Last Goodbye
by eiahmon
Summary: Hector struggles to explain his reason for leaving Dracula's servince in a letter to Isaac.


**Disclaimer: Not mine, don't own. **

Hector tapped the tip of the quill against the vellum parchment, creating a spot of ink that was quickly soaked up by the heavy material. He had decided to write a letter to Isaac, explaining his actions, but he had gotten only as far as getting his materials and sitting down at the desk that was in his quarters.

And then nothing.

He didn't know what to say. What _could _he say? That he just couldn't stand it any longer? That he didn't want to be a murdering sycophant of Dracula's anymore? That he was beginning to feel ashamed of his own power? He dropped the quill, splattering ink across the creamy surface of the parchment, and put his head in his hands. Even to his own mind, those reasons sounded weak and feeble; he knew that they would sound doubly so to Isaac.

Hector leaned back in his chair and let his arms hang limply at his sides as he stared at the harmless looking paper, quill, and ink bottle like they were the source of everything wrong in his life. It was just a letter, a letter to his lifelong friend to explain his reasons for betraying Dracula and leaving the castle, nothing more, nothing less. His reasons were clear to him, at least he thought they were, so why couldn't he put them on paper? Maybe his reasons weren't as clear as his thought.

He ran his hands down his face and sighed, before he took a deep breath and swept the ink stained paper onto the floor. He pulled out a fresh sheet, dipped his quill in the ink, closed his eye for a second, and tried to put his feelings in words.

_Isaac,_

Here Hector paused for a second as he tried to find the right words. He knew Isaac would be devastated by his disappearance, though the red head would do his best to not show it. He shook his head and lowered the quill to the paper.

_-anger you greatly, but please know that I never intended to upset you. I can't stand this life anymore, the violence, the bloodshed, the murder. Our Lord is not the kind man that took us in as homeless children anymore. He has turned into a monster, a monster that I cannot stand to be in the presence of anymore. I have no doubt that you disagree with me on that point, as he is the only parent you can remember ever having, but I can remember life before I was taken in by him, and I can't help but think that it's innocent people like my departed parents that are suffering from his rage._

Hector paused again. He could almost see the sneer on Isaac's face as he read that sentence. The younger man could never understand Hector's stubborn persistence in clinging to the memory of his dead parents. Hector had always assumed it was due to Isaac having no memories of his own parents, so he didn't understand what it was like to lose them. He turned his head and glanced out the window towards the smoke columns that he could see rising above a distant village. The work of Isaac and his Innocent Devils no doubt, done on the order of Lord Dracula. Rumors were flying that some villagers had gone off in search of the exiled Belmont family in the hopes that they could rid the countryside of the menace that Lord Dracula had become. If the whispered tales about the Belmont family's powers were to be believed, than Isaac was going to learn what it was like to lose a parent very soon.

Hector sighed again and turned away from the window and back to his letter. He glanced over it once before he tore it cleanly in two and threw the two pieces to the floor to join the ink stained sheet already down there. Pulling a new sheet to him, he didn't bother to try and make the words come in some semblance of sense. Instead, he just let them flow as they would.

For the next few minutes the only sound in the room was the scratching of the quill on the parchment, as Hector poured out his feelings and frustrations to a man that was his brother in all but blood. Once he was finished he blew gently on the ink to dry it, read it over twice and nodded in satisfaction.  
><em><br>Isaac,  
>If luck is with me tonight, then you'll find this letter before going to my rooms to ask me why I was not at the village with you earlier. If luck is not with me, then you will likely be too angry with me to bother reading this, and you will never know my reasons for doing what I have done. I have been struggling with this for weeks now, and my feelings on the matter have only grown stronger as time moves on. <em>

_I cannot in good conscientious stay in the service of Lord Dracula. He is not the kind man that took us in after we were rendered homeless orphans and raised us as if we were his own children. The loss of Mistress Lisa was hard on all of us, but I fear that grief has left him more than a little touched. He has changed into someone completely different from what he was once, and I fear what he may do if left unchecked. _

_I am not a murderer, Isaac. I cannot follow the orders that he gives us. I cannot make innocent suffer people suffer for his vengeance. The people that were responsible for the death of Mistress Lisa have paid for their crimes, yet Lord Dracula does not cease his rampage. I fear him, Isaac. I fear what he is doing. I fear what he will do in the future. I fear that his rage may turn to us. You and I are powerful, but we are nothing compared to him. If he wished to harm us..._

_All of this is why I am leaving. I know that he will never let me go willingly - maybe before grief drove him mad, he might have, but not now - so I am sneaking away while you are the village and before he rises for the night. Hopefully by the time he realizes that I have left, I will be safely away. My only fears are that he may take his anger at me leaving out on you, and that you will be angry with me for leaving you like this. I have tried to explain my concerns to you in the past, but you never took me seriously, so I don't dare tell you all this to your face, because I know you will try and stop me. I hope that maybe, someday, you will see and understand my reasons and will leave as well, before you become the next target of his rage. I hope that we will meet again somewhere. _

_This is goodbye, Isaac. I'm sorry, but I cannot stay. Just know that nothing you have done has driven me to this decision. I do not blame you. _

_Farewell,  
>Hector<em>

Standing up from his chair, Hector took the letter in hand and left his rooms, going down the hallway to Isaac's. He looked around for a place to leave the letter where he knew that Isaac would find it easily upon his return. He spotted one of Isaac's Devils lying curled up on the bed and decided that that was a perfect place, as Isaac always checked on his unsummoned Devils upon his return. Carefully, so not to disturb the sleeping Crimson, he approached the bed and laid the letter down on the coverlet. He then hastened back to his own rooms to take care of his Innocent Devils before leaving.

**OOOOOO**

The sound of the shutting door roused the sleeping Devil from its slumber. It raised its head and looked with curiosity at the folder paper in front of it. What was this? A new toy to play with? It reached out with its snout and sniffed at the strange thing, only to sneeze hard at the smell of the ink. The paper flew up into the air and began to flutter in the draft from the open window. Well that looked like fun. The Crimson hopped off the bed and began to blow on the fluttering paper, to try and keep it in the air. It was great fun, and it had the paper hovering easily as it moved from one side of the room to another. A sudden gust of wind from the window caught the fluttering toy and blew it towards the roaring fireplace. It tried to catch it and blow it away, it really did, but the wind would not be denied, and the paper landed solidly among the burning logs. Hanging its head in disappointment over the destruction of its toy, the Crimson went back to the bed and curled up on it with the intention of going back to sleep.. Maybe when Master returned he would give it a new toy.

**OOOOOO**

Isaac knew something was wrong as soon as he stepped foot in the castle. He could hear the wailing of Innocent Devils, and the only thing that could cause them to wail like that was the severing of the bond between Master and Devil. Fearing the worst, Isaac broke into a run to reach Hector's rooms as quickly as possible. He reached the other man's rooms and threw the door open, calling Hector's name. He looked in all the rooms, the wailing of the Devils ringing in his ears and saw no sign of the other Forgemaster. Maybe Hector was in his, Isaac's, rooms. Running to his own rooms, Isaac again saw no sign of Hector, only his unsummoned Devils lying about. Isaac walked up to the bed and idly scratched the head of the Crimson that was lying there while he wondered where else Hector could be. He knew that Hector hadn't been at the village earlier, so he had to be in or around the castle somewhere. Not that it mattered really, he reminded himself. If the bond between Hector and his Devils was severed that meant that either Hector was dead or...

Isaac's eyes narrowed in sudden thought. Hector wouldn't, would he? He had been speaking of being concerned about Lord Dracula the past several days. But Hector wouldn't just leave without telling anyone would he?

A shower of sparks from the fireplace as a log broke apart caught Isaac's attention. Something fluttered out of the fireplace and landed soundlessly on the stone floor. What was that? Isaac walked over and picked it up. It was a small piece of parchment, heavily charred but still readable. He read the words there: "I am leaving." written in Hector's handwriting and felt himself begin to shake with rage.

How dare he! How dare he leave like that,, without even having the courage to leave a letter! How dare he betray their lord like that! How dare he betray him, Isaac, like that! Dropping the scrap of parchment, he ran to the window and looked out, hoping to see Hector's white haired figure, but he saw nothing. Either Hector was long gone, or he had concealed himself well. Either way, there was no way to track him down.

Snarling in rage at the betrayal, Isaac left the window and walked out of his rooms. He had to be in the throne room by the time Lord Dracula rose to report on his actions within the village. He was not looking forward to explaining about Hector's betrayal. As Isaac walked, he thought about finding Hector and either dragging him back or getting vengeance. Someday, he vowed, Hector would pay for what he had done.

**OOOOOO**

A few miles away, Hector urged his horse on and resisted the urge to look back at the castle that had been his home since he was a small boy. If he looked back, he might start regretting his actions, and if he started to regret them, he might be tempted to return. And that, he couldn't, wouldn't do. He hoped Isaac had found and read the letter and wasn't too angry with him, even as he acknowledged that Isaac would have every reason to be so. So he simply tried not to think of it as he rode on, towards a new place, towards a new life.


End file.
